'Robot surgery' could save men from prostate cancer

Surgeons have praised the pioneering use of robots in saving a record number of men from one of the UK's deadliest cancers. The £1 million machines, known as Da Vinci robots, have performed life-saving surgery at University College London Hospitals on more than 500 men with advanced prostate cancer. Surgeons credit them with being quicker, safer and the procedures have fewer side effects than existing treatments in a move that has been described as a'game changer'. Many men delay prostate cancer treatment over fears they may suffer incurable erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in men and the second biggest killer in men after lung cancer, causing 11,300 UK deaths a year. An internal 3D camera displays instantaneous images to the surgeon's high-definition console David Ferris, a Londoner with'aggressive' prostate cancer underwent robotic surgery to remove his prostate at University Collage London Hospital carried out by consultant urological surgeon Greg Shaw'It gives men their lives back after prostate cancer' Professor John Kelly, clinical lead for urology at University College London Hospitals at Westmoreland Street hospital, said: 'Although [conventional] surgery removes the cancerous tumour, patients are left with life-changing after-effects like incontinence and impotence, which can be devastating.